Dump-car-door-locking device



March 20, 1928. 1,663,475

R. E, CARTZDAFNER DUMP CAR DOOR LOCKING DEVICE Filed Feb. 25. 1924 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

BOY E. GARTZDAFNER, OF PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY.

.DUMP-GAR-DOOR-LOGKING DEVICE.

' Application filed February 25, 1924. Serial No. 694,859.-

' The invention relates in general to an improved form of control for the drop door of dump car of the type in which a door or doors on opposite sides are released automatically by the tilting movement of the car body and in which the doors are moved into their opened position on the depressed side by their weight and by the weight of the lading in the car.

In such constructions it is a usual prac- .tice to tilt and to right the car body by swinging the same in opposite directions by the use of some tilting mechanism. usual i ly pneumatic cylinders. and to lock the car body in its righted position by locking mechanism. Such mechanisms are utilized as part of the car equipped with the invention herein'disclosed but such mechanisms constitute no part of the present disclosure and therefore have been omitted from the illustrated showing. In so far as the present showing is concerned it is to be assumed that the car is tilted and righted byany conventional form of mechanism usually employed for this purpose. I

The primary object of. the invention herein featured is to provide a simple form of combined door closing mechanism and looking device which will permit a free opening movement of the door when the car body is tilted towards the door; which will operate automatically when a depressed side of the car body is elevated to its normal, horizontal position, to positively move the door into its closed position; which will lock the door in such closed position and which will maintain its locking engagement with the door; not only while the car body is in its normal horizontal position, but also when the car side equipped with the door iselevated from its normal position in effecting a tilting.

towards the opposite side of the car.

Accordingly, the invention features a door controlling mechanism which is movable to and fromits operative position automatically by the movement of the car body, Which is otherwise independent of the mechanism which actuates the tilting movement of the car body, and which'requires nopower means of its own foroperating the same.

Another object of the invention. and still featuri g simplicity in construction. is to provide a door lock and closing mechanism which will comprise a minimum number of parts and which parts can be cheaply and roughly constructed without necessity of any refined machining, and which can be readily repliiced in case they become worn or damage Another object of the invention is to providemechanisni of the type outlinedwhich can be disposed under. the car body and in an out-of-thc-way protected position so as not to interfere with the opening movement of the door and which mechanism will not;

become clogged or otherwise rendered inoperative by the lading discharged from the car.

Another object of the invention is to provide a form of door closure which will be sufiiciently rugged towithstand any shocks thereon incidental to a freely falling opening 1 movement of the door and which will be designed so as to effect a rapid, positive closin movement of the door incidental to and s1- multaneous with the righting of thecar body. v

Various other objects and advantagesof the invention will be in part obvious from an inspection of the accompanying drawings and in part will be more fully set forth 1n the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying my invention, and the invention also consists in cer tain new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view taken through one side of a dump car equipped with a preferred embodiment of the invention and showing the same in its normal, righted' or horizontal position; and

Figure 2 is a similar view showing in full lines the car parts illustrated in Figure 1 in depressed position with the door in open door and its control mechanism on opposite sides of the car with obvious changes in direction.

. In the drawings there is shown a car un derframe 10, hereinafter referred to as a support. It is obvious that the mechanism .here'in disclosed can be used, with necessary changes in construction upon any form of dumping body, and which construction need not necessarily be a car. A dumping body, herein shown to be a car body is pivotally mounted on the support 10 for tilting move ment in opposite directions from its normal horizontal position shown in Fig. 1. The car body includes a floor 37, braced at opposite edges by angle irons 38 and between which fit transverse stiffening members 39 beneath thefloor. It is understood that the car body is tilted, righted, and locked in its righted position .by mechanism forming no part of the present disclosure.

The car body is opened on opposite sides and these openings are closed by drop doors, one of which 12 is illustrated in the showing. The door 12 is hinged at its lower edge on a concealed hinge connection 13 and the door is so arranged relative to the interior of the car body that the Weight of the lading. inthe car acts on the door to move the same into the opened position when the door is released from the holding effect of the mechanism particularly constituting the 'sub-. ject matter of this disclosure. It is understood that the showing as thus far described :is conventional andhas been illustrated ,to show the adaptability of the invention to conventional side door dump car construe tions now in general use.

The door 12 is provided with an extension 14 depending below the pivotal connection 13 and this extension is most conveniently formed by extending one of the usual upstanding door braces 15'. The door is defined on its inner side with sheeting which, when the door is closed, substantially contacts with the adjacent edge of the floor 37 to prevent leaka e of the car ladingonto the hinge connection 13. One element 41 of the hinge connection is secured to the brace 15' and the other element 42 is secured to the angle iron 38 which forms in effect an extension from the stiifenin member 39. The extension is provide on its inner edge, beneath the .i-pivotal connection 13 with a cam engaging face 15. In one physical form of the invention this face has been peculiarly designed to cooperate with a' peculiarly designed cam 16 hereinaftermore fully described. It was the objective of the designer to rovide the cam face 15 in such a way that t ere would be a substantial uniform rate of closing movement of "the door and a distribution of strains; both on the door and on the cam mechanism during the closing movement of the door. The

showing accordingly features the lightest possible form of cam capable of performing the duty required. The character of the cam face must necessarily depend upon the peculiar requirement of each doorand its associated parts and the character of lading carried by the car. In the form herein disclosed the face'15 is formed of two'concave parts, one leading into the other and in whichthe part 17 nearest the hinge connection 13 is relatively long and constitutes the part of the face 15 engaged by the-cam in lifting the door towards its closed position. The outer part 18 is of less length than the part 17; is substantially a section of a circle with the pivotal connection of the cam 16 asa center and is designed first so that the cam will exert its maximum, effort on the door to start it on the initial part of its closing movement, and second so that the cam may shift about its axis and still maintain its locking engagement with the door. T e forms by the merging of the parts 17 and 18 forms a stop 19 designed tobe engaged by a nose 20 adjacent the free end of the cam to lock the door in its closed position.

The cam is in the form of a casting, and which in the sectional showing, issubstantially in the form of an inverted U with one leg 21 pivoted to the underside of the car rojecting portion of the face 15,

body on a readily removable pivot pin 22.

This inner side rounds about the underside Inn of the end of the leg 24 to form the nose 20.

Here again it may be said that in a physical fformof the invention the cam face 25 has been peculiarly designed to coact with the face 15 in the manner hereinbefore described.

The parts of the cam are so proportioned that when in the position shown in Figure 1 the distance between the pivotal connection 22 andthe point 19 on the face 15 is such that the door is secured in closed position and locked by the cam against accidental opening movement.

When the cam is elevated as shown in full lines in Figure 2, it clears the face 15 and is disposed in an out-of-the-way position under the car body and is so disposed as to permit a freedom of opening movement of the door. Incidentally the cam actsas a stop to limit the opening movement-0f the door.

The cam is operatively connected to the frame 10 so as to be controlled by the tilting movement of the car body relative tothe support. For this purpose a cam controlrelatively long portion extending substantially lengthwise of the link and a relatively short transversely and upwards extending portion 31. The end portion of the link which contains the slot is provided with a substantially straight underside 32 designed to engage and slide along the top of a plate 33 formed on top of the support 10 for the purpose hereinafter described. The support is also provided with a stop 34 upstanding from the plate 33 and disposed in the path ofv movement of the link to engage the end 35 of the link and thus coact with the stop plate 33 to control the positioning of the pin 28 in the different parts of the slot.

In operation assume that the car is in its normal, righted position as shown in Figure 1 and that it is desired to tilt the car in the slot which thus acts as a stop to prevent the retreat of the link towards the right of the showing in the drawings. As the link .is held from retreating the pivot point 27 is likewise held from movement .to the right of the showing in Fig. 1, and this 1n turn acts to hold the cam 1n space, or rather to permit the cam to be bodily lowered into the position shown in Fig. 2. The lowering of the car side will thus carry the extension 1 1 downwardly past the nose 20 of the cam and thus permit the extension forming the lower end of the door to be moved about but free of the cam. lhe door then opens by virtue of the weight of the lading pressing on the same and the door is moved by this weight into the fully opened position shown in Figure 2. The surface 15 moves into or under the cam until it engages the cam surface 25 which thus acts as a stop to prevent any further opening movement of' the door.

In elfect there has been no movement of the cam; the door extension has simply passed around the cam nose and engages the underside of the cam.

In the succeeding elevating movement of the car side to right the car, the cam is still,

held in position in space by the engagement of the pin 28 in the stop portion 31 of the slot. The elevating of the ear side causes the surface 15 to ride about the cam surface 25 and in effect the interengaging cam surfaces herein illustrated act on the door to move the same towards its closed and locked position, shown in Figure 1, with a positive and uniform movement.

Should it be desired to tiltthe car in the opposite direction, that is, in the direction away from the side herein disclosed, it will be understood that the dooron this. opposite side will function as has been herein described for the door illustrated. It is a feature of the present disclosure that the door on the elevated side remains locked and is not affected by the tilting operation towards the opposite side. This action is illustrated in the dotted line showing in Fig. 2. As the car side starts to elevate from its nor mal horizontal position it pulls on the link '26 causing the link face 32 to ride on the stop plate 33. This has the effect of shifting the left end of the link upwardly and into position to remove the pin 28 from the short portion 31 of the slot and to cause the pin in effect, to ride along the long portion 30 of the slot as the car body is further tilted. In this way the link is free to move with the elevated side of the cal body exerting little, if any, restraint on the cam. Even if there should be a shifting of the cam from the position illustrated'in Figure 1 engaging the point 19 and a movement of the nose 20 along the cam surface 18, this will have no effect upon he locking function of the cam.

due to the fact that all portions of the cam engaging face 18 are in the radius of a cir- In order to insure the maintaining of the elevated cam in a locking position a stop 36 forming part of the casting 43 is disposed in the path of movement of the same.

As the elevated side is returned to its normal position the long part 30 of the slot will slide along the pin 28 and when the end 35 of the link engages the stop 34 the link will be shifted to position the pin in the short, stop end 31 of the slot. By this time the nose 20 of the cam is restored to its normal locking position and the parts are otherwise disposed as shown in Figure 1.

By means of a device of the type disclosed it is possible to effect a positive and easy closing of the door simultaneous with and incidental to the righting of the car body. There is no need of any separate manual operation to lock or unlock the door. t is simply necessary to dump the car body following conventional practice. The door, or rather both doors in cases where the two doors are employed, are positively locked as long as the car body is maintained in its horizontal .position by the usual mechanism for preventing accidental tilting of the car body. The disclosure therefore features a cle with the axis of the pivot 22 as a center.

simplified form of door lock and closing mechanism which does not require the use of any manual control nor of any power mechanism distinct from the mechanism for righting the car. From the standpoint of economy in structure the invention simply requires a cam locking and lifting member and a control link connecting the same with some non-tilting part of the car structure. This disclosure particularly features a simplified structure of door locking mechanism which is positive in its operation, not only while the car body is in its normal righted position but also maintains the door in locked position.

Should parts become worn or damaged it is simply necessary to remove the pivot pin or pins; replace the damaged parts which can be done by the unskilled mechanic or by the repair man without removing the car from active service.

While I have shown and described, and have pointed out in the annexed claims, certain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation "may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a dump car, the combination of a support, a car body mounted thereon for tilting movement, a door pivoted to one side of the car body, a door controlling member substantially at all timesin control of the door to regulate its opening and closing movements during the entire extent of said door movement, said member carried by the car body and movable relative thereto into one position away from the door so as to permit the same to move freely into an open position, said member including a connection extending-therefrom to the support and being operatively connected to the car body and support and movable by the righting of the car body into bearing engagement with the door to move the same from its open into its closed position and to close and lock the same.

a 2. In a dump car, the combination of a car body mounted for tilting movement, a door pivoted adjacent its lower edge to one side of the car body, a lock movable independently of the door and positioned on the underside of the car body inwardly from the pivotal connection of the door with the car body, said lock being controlled automatically by the position of the car body when in normal horizontal position for hearing on the door to hold the same in closed position and means controlled by a tilting movement of the car body for shifting the position when elevated from normal' lock into an inoperative position. and thus permit the door to swing about its pivotal connection into an open position.

Ina dump car, the combination of a support, a car body mounted on the support for tilting movement, a door hinged to said car body andfprovided with a cam engaging surface, a cam pivoted to the car body and adapted in one position to engage said surface to close and lock the door and in another position disposed to clear the door and thus permit the same to open, a link pivoted to the cam and having a loose connection.

with the. support and said support provided with a stop for engaging the link to cause thesame to rotate the cam into an inoperative position when the *ar body is tilted on theside towards the door.

4. In. a device of the class described, the combination of a support, a car body mounted on the support for tilting movement in opposite directions and provided with a door, locking means for the door and a control for the locking means operably dependent on the position of the body, said control including a link having a pin and slot con nection with the support, a stop on the support for limiting the movement of the link in one direction when the body is tilted towards one side and said pin and slot connection providing a freedom of movement of the link when the body is tilted towards the opposite side.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a body mounted to be tilted in opposite directions from its normal horizontalposition, said body provided on one side with a hinged door having a depending extension beneath the body and disposed to one side of the body, locking mechanism normally bearing on the door extension horizontally for securing the door in closed position when the body is in its horizontal position and when the side provided with the door is elevated and a normally inoperative control .for the locking means operatively associated with the body for moving the locking means into an inoperative position and thus permit the door to open when said side is depressed from its normal position.

6. In a dump car, the combination of a support, acar body' mounted on the support to be tilted in opposite directions from its normal position, a door hinged to one side ofathecar body and provided with a depending extension having a cam face on the inner side, a cam pivoted to the body and including a rounded nose at one end adapted to engage the cam face to bear on the the nose end and having a pin and L-shaped slot connection with the support, said support provided with a stop for limiting the movement of the link in its movement away from :the cam and for causing'the slot to shift relative to its pin thereby to hold the cam while the car body is being tilted towards the side having the door.

7. In a dump car, the combination of a;

i 1 car body, a door hinged thereto andprovided with an extension depending from itshinged connection, the rear side of said ex tension provided with a cam engaging face,

a substantially inverted U-shaped cam having one leg pivoted to the car-body, the other leg terminating in a nose adapted to engage said face to lockthe door in closed position, and the inner side of the leg adjacent the nose providing a camming surface adapted to engage said face when the,

door is open and to act thereon to swing the door towards its closed position.

9. In a dump 'car, the combination of a car body mounted to be tilted from normal in opposite directions, a door on one side of the car body, a door lifting mechanism positioned' on one side of the car body and contained substantially in a transverse plane, all parts of which mechanism are free at all times to move with the adjacent side of the car body and actuated by a lifting movement of the side provided with the door towards its normal position and bearing on the door for moving the same into a closed position and for locking the same when the car body has reached its normal, righred position, said mechanism maintained, in its locking position independent of any movement of the car body inelevating said s de from normal position in efiecting a tilting towards the opposite side of the car whereby the door is maintained in locked position y when the car body is tilted towards the side opposite the door,

10. In a dump car, .the combinatlon of a car'body mounted to be tilted from normal in opposite directions adapted to be pro vided with means for dumping the same and with means for locking the same in itsnormal righted position, a door on one side of the car body, door closing and locking means. operatively connected, to the car body and controlled automatically by a lowering from normal of said side for moving said means into an inoperative position thus permitting the door to fall open controlled by the elevating towards normal of said side for movmg in engagement with the door and actin thereon to move the same into a closed an locked position and said means in its locking position being functionally independent of any elevating from normal of said side. of the car body and independent of any means for securing the car body in its normal righted position.

11. In a dump car, the combination of a car body mounted for tilting movement, a door hinged to the car body said door provided with a cam engaging face, a cam pivoted to the car body and adapted to engage said face to close and lock the door, a portion of said cam face being concentric to the axis of movement ofthe cam whereby a slight relative movement is permitted be-" tween the cam and said face while the cam is maintained in locking engagement with the door.

12. In a dump car, the combination of a car body mounted for tilting movement, a door hinged to one side of the car body, door elevating and locking means carried by the underside of the tiltable car body on the underside thereof and disposed in an outof-the-way position inwardly from the hinge connection between the car-body and the door. i

13; In a dump car, the combination of a carbody mounted for tilting movement towards opposite sides, a door at one side and means including a member pivoted to the tilting car body-and controlled by an elevating movement of the side provided with the door for moving intobearing engagement with the door in its fullyopen position and positively closing and locking the same.

14.111 a dump car, the combination of a support, a car body mounted thereon for tilting movement towards opposite sides, a door at one side, means including a door closing and locking element and a link connection between the same and the support, said means controlled by an elevatin movement of the side provided with the oor for positively closing and locking the door, said means being at all times free to move relative to the support, and means for maintaining said element in operative doorlocking position when the opposite side of the car body is depressed from or elevated towards its normal position.

15. In a device of the class described, the

-combination of a tiltable car body, a side posed when the car body is tilted to receive the shock of the openingidoor and means controlled by the righting movement of the car body for causing the door locking member to react on the door'to close and lock the same.

16. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltable car body, a side door therefor movable into open position by its own weight when the car body is tilted towards the door, door closing and locking means pivoted to the car body and moved by the tilting movement of the car into an inoperative posit-ion and moved by the succeeding righting movement of the car body into bearing engagement with the door to lift the same into and hold the same locked in its closed position.

17. In a car device of the class described, the combination of a tiltable body, a door pivoted thereto and movable into open position by its own weight when the car body is tilted towards the door, a doorlocking member pivoted to the car body adapted to be swung into lifting engagement with the door to move the same from its fully open into a closed and locked position and otherwise independent of the same and control means for the said member operatively connected f0I II1OViI1g the same into an inoperative position unlocking the door when the car body is tilted and holding the member in position locking the door when the car body is elevated from its normal righted' position.

18. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tiltable car body, a side door therefor, door controlling mechanism actuated solely and automatically by the dumping and righting movements of the car body, said mechanism including a door locking lever disposed in the path of movement of the door for limiti'ngthe opening movement of the same over its entire extent of movement, and means controlled by'a righting movement of the car body and acting on the door locking lever for causing the same to move the door from its open into its closed position and for locking the same in its closed position.

19. In a dump car, the combination of a car body provided with aside. door, a compression lock fitted between the door and car body for securing the door in closed position both when the car body is in its normal righted position and when the car body is elevated on the side provided with the door, and means controlled by the dumping movement of the car body towards the side provided with the door for movingthe lock from its operative into an inoperative position and thus permit the door to open.

20. In a dump car, the combination of a tiltable car body provided with a pivotally mounted side door having an extension normally depending from the pivotal mounting, a compression lock free of the extension and normally disposed between the extension and the car body'for securing the door in closed position and means for moving the lock to and from its operative position.

21. In a dump car, the combination of an underframe, a car body mounted thereon for tilting movement, and provided with a side door, a compression lock normally positioned between the door and car body for moving and securing the door in closed position and a control connection between said lock and the underframe for moving the lock into an inoperative position automatically as the car body is tilted towards the side provided with the door thereby to permit the door to open. 22. In a dump car, the combination of an underframe, a car body mounted thereon for dumping movement and provided with a side door adapted to swing open under the influence of its own weight, mechanisms functioning solely to control said door and including means normally acting to resistthe opening movement of the door, and a rigid link connected at opposite ends to both said means and to the underframe, coacting therewith and controlled automatically by the movement of the car body to-move said means into an inoperative position and thus permit the door to open and said door being in bearing engagement with said means during the entire opening movement of the door. 23. In a device of theclass described, the

combination of a frame, a body mounted thereon for tilting movement towards opposite sides of the frame,"a door pivoted to one side of the body for opening movement downward, said door provided with an extension dependin below the pivotal mounting of the door w en in closed position, door controllin means operatively. controlled by the position of the body relative to the frame, said means including a linkage comprisingtwo links pivotally connected, one end of said linkage being pivoted to the frame and the other end being-in operative engagement with said extension to control the opening and closing movement of the door as the body is dumped and righted and said linkage being pivotally connected to the underside of the body adjacent the door controlled thereby.

234. In a dump vehicle, a frame, a dump body rockable selectively to dump in opposite directions, aside door for said body pivoted thereto at each side thereof, a door controlling means for each door including a member secured to said body at the side 'adj acent the door controlled thereby and a connecti on between each of said door controlling members and the frames so disposed that the member controlling the door at the lower side of the tilted body permits the door to open and controlsthe same incidental to the tilting movementof the body while the member controlling the door at the other side remains in positlon securing the door in closed position, so that the door at the upper side of the body is maintained closed during dumping and thedoor at'the lower side of the body is controlled during the entire extent of its opening and closing movement.

25. Ina dump vehicle, a frame, a dump body t-iltable selectively towards opposite sides of said frame, a side door at each side a of said body, each door pivotally mounted adjacent its lower edge to the car body to turn downwardly into an open position and independent devices for each door connected to said frame and body, located beneath said body and extending laterally across the medial-plane of the vehicle when the Vehicle is righted, for independently and selectively I moving said respective doors from open to closed position during the return of said body from tilted position. I

26. In a'dump vehicle, a frame, a dump body rockable selectively towards opposite sides of said frame, a side doorfor said body at each'side thereof, said doors being hinged to the body to fold down foropening' and independent devices for each door pivotally connecting the frame and body for. auto: matically, independently and selectively controlling the opening and closing of the door through which dumping is to be effected, throughout the entire movement thereof, saidibody operating through said devices for swinging the same into position to hold the doors closed when said body-is in its normal position i'ighted fortransport.

Y 27. In a dump vehicle, a frame, a dump body rockable selectively-for dumping towards opposite sides of the'frame, a side door located at each side of and hinged to the body to fold down for opening an independent. mechanism for each door, each including interconnected. devices located beneath said body and attached to the body and to the frame for automatically, independently and selectively controlling the opening and closing of the door through which dumping is to be effected, throu bout the entire movement thereof, said bo y operating through said devices for holding the doors closed when said body is in its normal position righted for transport.

28. In a dump car, the combination of an underframe, a car body mounted thereon for" tilting movement in o posite directions said car body provided wit 1 a floor, a transverse- 1 extending stifl'ening member beneath the oor and provided adjacent one end with a depending extension inset from the adjacent edge of the floor, a side door, including a vertically extending brace depending below the floor and provided with sheeting on its innerface coactin with the floor to substantially close the joint therebetween and thus prevent the lading from discharging from the car body on to the hinge connection therebelow, a hinge connection between said brace and said stilfening member, door controlling means extending between the door and underframe at all times free to move relative thereto, pivoted to the underframe,

pivoted to the said depending extension and engaging the door for controlling it in its opening movement as the car body is tilted towards the same and for-securing the door in closed position as the door and associated side of the car is elevated from its normal righted position in effecting a dumping towards the opposite side.

29. In a dump car, the combination of an underframe, a car body mounted thereon for dumping movement, downwardly o ening side'doors at each side'oi the car bo y, in-

dependent devices for each-door for automatically, independently and selectively controlling the opening and closing of the door ond member and the underframe, said devices permitting the car body when movin' upwardly on either side from its norma rlghted position to shift said second member bodily relative to the under-frame while the connection onthe depressed side of the car bod maintains its connection with the under rame.

30. In a dump car, the combination of an underframe, a tiltable car body mounted thereon, a. side door carried by the car body and adapted to be moved by its own weight into open position when the car body is tilted towards the door, a door stifiener including osition, each of said devices includ-c an extension'depending belowthe door, door controlling means pivoted tothe car body and to the underframe and dis to bear on the e'ztensio'n as the car y is righted to cause said means to react on th'edoor to close and lock the same.

Si ed at New York cit in the county of New ork and State of ew York this 21st day of February, A. D. 1924.

ROY'EFCARTZDAFNER; 

